Seafood Vendors Still Struggling 4 Years After the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Seafood Vendors Still Struggling 4 Years After the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) - Sunday marked the four year anniversary of the BP oil spill.

The spill sent nearly 5-million barrels of oil spewing into the water. The Deepwater Horizon burst into flames late on April 20th 2010. Eleven workers that were on that rig were never found.

Meanwhile, underwater, oil continued to gush from the BP operated well for close to 90 days. The well was not capped until mid-July.

At the Westwego Seafood Market families are buying the seafood they plan to enjoy with loved ones this Easter Sunday. Suppliers say they’re happy the customers are still there, but they say four years after the BP oil spill the shrimp, and the crabs are not what they used to be. They say most of all they are still struggling to come up with enough seafood.

Vendors tell us the last week of Lent is one of the busiest times of the year at the Westwego Seafood Market, but because of the lack of seafood many aren’t working. They say because the seafood is harder to find prices have gone up.

The oyster beds have been affected by fresh water diversions. It was done in an effort to keep the oil out. Those in the in the seafood and oyster industry say four years later oysters are struggling to reproduce.

Meanwhile advocates for Vietnamese-American fishermen in Biloxi say the disaster is still having an impact on their livelihoods, and environmentalists are issuing warnings. They say more than 800-pounds of oil and tar were removed from barrier islands just this year.